Google reportedly plotting 12.85-inch touch Chromebook

We’ve already got a few Chromebooks from a number of different manufacturers like Acer and Samsung on the market, but it may not be long before Google decides to release a Chromebook of its own. That’s what the latest rumor from DigiTimes is telling us anyway, claiming that a Google-branded Chromebook will hit shelves at some point next year. One of the big selling points of this Chromebook will be a touchscreen display, which makes our ears perk up immediately.

That touchscreen display is apparently 12.85-inches, and China Times reports that it’ll be made by Compal. Work on this new Chromebook is well underway, as we’re hearing that the new device should be ready to ship by the end of 2012. That means an early 2013 release for this Google-branded Chromebook, so at least it shouldn’t be very long before we find out if this rumor is true.

Unfortunately, we don’t know much more about this mysterious Chromebook. At the moment, the screen is the only thing that has been detailed, but looking at other Chromebooks, we can expect hardware that’s geared more toward keeping prices down than sheer power. The price is what we’re most interested in, since Google is one of those companies that can afford to sell a product close to or even under cost in order to get it in the hands of more consumers.

Google has around 20 million Chromebooks on order according to these rumors, so if this a real device, we should be getting official word on it soon. We’re definitely interested to see what Google-branded Chromebook is capable of, so we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more details. Stay tuned.